SELTI is an organization that promotes tourism through literature. Each feature offers readers short stories, poetry, and book excerpts about real places to visit. Every story has a companion travel guide with links for more information. SELTI is the nation's premier site for the hot new genre of tourism fiction. Available now at Amazon: BLIND FATE, the first interactive tourism novel on Kindle. Visit the new SELTI at selti.org.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

The real Harriott II will appear in the fictional novel Uncharted Waters.

Excerpt From: Uncharted Waters
by Sara DuBose

Tourism Attraction: Harriott II
Riverboat

Location:Montgomery, AL

Photos: Diane Prothro

(Click any photo to enlarge!)

Model: Sarah Hunter

The riverboat Harriot II is making its first appearance in a tourism novel: Uncharted Waters by Sara DuBose, set for release October 1. In Uncharted Waters, Beth Davidson faces
frightening encounters with a stalker, but she takes matters into her own hands
by joining the MontgomeryPoliceAcademy.
Although the character of Beth is fictional, all of the places in the novel are
real, including many tourism attractions. Join Beth as she learns what it takes
to become a Montgomery
police officer.

The following scene takes place
in the heart of downtown Montgomery’s riverfront
entertainment district, within sight of the MontgomeryVisitorCenter in the historic
Union Train Station, the Renaissance Hotel and Spa, and Alley Station. Follow the tourism guide at
the end of this excerpt to learn how to visit all of the places in this new
suspense novel set in one of the South’s many getaways. Also find links to
excerpts of other tourism novels set in Montgomery and across the South, and learn about the latest exciting developments in the tourism fiction genre nationwide.

From Uncharted
Waters:

As I drove away from the safe
haven of the Honda dealership my mind kicked into fast forward. I told myself, don’t rush and don’t cut it too close and
let it make you nervous. Nervous? I almost laughed out loud. Nervous was my
middle name. Taking the I-85 interstate, the self talk continued. Hang in there. You’re gonna be okay. Try to
park in a business slot if you can. This will seem more normal. He may not be
watching you park anyway. My guess is he is more intent on getting you into the
tunnel.

My heart flopped in my chest. How reassuring, Beth!

Soon I took the Union Street exit
and passed the Little White House of the Confederacy on my left. Now there was
no time for reminiscing or touring as I had done with Dad. Today I stayed on Union, passing the back of the Alabama State Capitol on
my way to Madison Avenue. My mind accelerated. What . . . what if he has a gun?

Beth, this man wants a date with you. It’s not likely
he’ll have a gun. If by some slim chance he pulls a pistol, remember the
cautionary e-mail you received recently: run like mad. Run in a zigzag fashion.

I stared out the windshield,
trying to simulate a dash through the tunnel but my whole body suddenly felt
like someone had stuffed me inside a kettle drum during the William Tell
Overture. I turned onto Madison
and drove west to Commerce. Almost there.

Unlike Shannon,
I’m usually on time. I’d be on time today. Now I turned right on Commerce and,
after driving a block, I spotted a parking place only half a block from the
tunnel. My Honda clock read five-fifty on the nose. The parking meter had
fifteen more minutes but it isn’t necessary to feed them after six anyway. I
reached for my water bottle and took a long sip, willing away the dryness.

What are you doing here? A tiny voice tried to flood its way into my
consciousness. I dammed it up. After all,
I told myself, if I could stop this
psycho now there’d be no need to spill everything to Domestic Violence.

Beth prepares to face her stalker. The Harriott II
ticket office is in the immediate background,
with the Renaissance Hotel standing above.

Opening the door, I looked from
left to right and then down to the end of Commerce. The street seemed strangely
quiet. What to do with this permanent arm fixture, my purse. I punched the
remote for my car trunk and thought about the recent e-mail warning: “Don’t use
your remote after exiting your car.” Why? Something about a stranger picking up
the signal. I wondered if it were true. Well, too late. I tossed the purse in,
covering it with an old blanket. Someone was probably watching. I didn’t care.

I checked my watch again.
Five-fifty two. I’d enter the tunnel in three minutes, five minutes earlier
than planned. Would he be there? Yes. No.
I didn’t know.

Stepping up to the curb, I could
feel my heart pounding somewhere in my throat. One, two three, four. I counted the beats with each pace and tried
to remember how to swallow. Suddenly, something whisked by. I jumped. The skate
board almost scraped my arm but the boy hurried on. Was he headed for the tunnel? Probably. Would his appearance distract
the stalker? I kept walking and watching the boy as he turned into the
tube. I stopped, holding my breath. What
to do next? Had my admirer said to meet him at the entrance or inside?

Beth cautiously enters the tunnel
leading to the Harriott II and riverfront.
A train passes above the tunnel
in the background.

Waiting, I continued to watch
the boy but soon the sound of his footsteps faded. Now I was standing directly
in front of the entrance; my eyes traveling down the long cylinder, feeling
like a fox in fear of the hound. Waiting, I saw nothing unusual and heard no
sound except the kettle drum still pounding. Pounding.

I finally took several steps
just inside the tunnel and stopped, stifling a cough. Then, I looked behind me.
Still nothing. After waiting what seemed like ten minutes, I checked my watch.
Six-o-seven. The boy was long out of sight, but did I see someone down at the
other end? I blinked.

Trembling now, I moved closer to
the tunnel wall, wondering how long it would take me to run back to my car if
the man approached. Donnie was right. I shouldn’t have come.

Beth goes deeper into the tunnel.

Someone sneezed. I looked behind
me. Nothing. No, it wasn’t a sneeze . . . it was a train—a six o’clock freight
train pulling through the train shed just west of the tunnel. Now came a
mournful whistle blow, followed by two more. Ordinarily, I love the sound of a
train, but this was distracting. What
should I do? I crept several more paces inside the hollow tube, hoping to
recognize the person at the other end. The man had definitely moved closer but
I couldn’t identify him . . .

Although Uncharted Waters is a
romantic suspense novel, the story does lead the reader to many real tourism attractions
along the way. Check out some of the places highlighted in the novel through
the tourism links below and feel free to return to these links after reading
the book.One of the things that really stood out to me while reading this novel was all of the places the characters ate. I literally counted at least fifteen different places to eat, which for a tourism novel could be very instructive to other writers. I might have gained a few pounds just reading this novel. This illustrates the true nature of Montgomery, where eating delicious southern food is almost held as sacred as college football. There's no better place to be initiated into this tradition than Montgomery's Alley Station, which has several great places to eat like the famous Dreamland Bar-B-Que. Visit the Alley Station's website in the Tourism Links below to learn more about its other attractions. While on board the Harriott II during this photo shoot, the captain told Sara and I of special murder mystery-themed cruises while piloting a riverboat in Savannah. That opens up some
very interesting possibilities for future novels with scenes set on the
Harriott II and other Montgomery
area attractions.

Nowadays, some e-tourism novels
can even allow the reader to click on tourism links from inside the novel
itself if read on a Kindle or iPad, which enables readers to click on and browse
related tourism websites without going to a separate computer. For more
details, check out the links, photos, and excerpts below from two other tourism
novels set in Montgomery, Blind Fate and Dixie Noir, that were featured in USA Today for their innovation in using e-reader technology to promote tourism
through a novel.

A major theme in Uncharted Waters involves domestic
violence and Beth going through the real Montgomery Police Academy. Please also
check out the domestic violence education links provided by the author after
the tourism links. Sara conducted many interviews with Academy officers to make the academy scenes realistic. Although not everyone can go through the academy, Sara also consulted with Debbie Robison, who teaches self-defense classes at the Armory Learning Arts Center. Learn more about Debbie's classes at her Facebook page: Thorn of the Rose: Self-Defense for Women and Girls.

Another major development in
tourism fiction will occur when Alabama state
senator Clay Scofield invites all Alabama
authors to focus on tourism attractions in their novels and works. He will make
the appeal while presenting Kathryn Lang with the nation’s first tourism
fiction award, the 2012 SELTI Tourism Fiction Award at the Moundville Native American
Festival on October 10th.Novels are the perfect venue for promoting
tourism to real attractions because they can engage potential tourists on a
whole new level. Let’s face it; with the economy always on the verge of
collapse due to lack of consumer spending, a new innovative tool that could revitalize tourism spending in areas
all over the country could be very timely. After all: people who love to read
also love to travel.Nonfiction guidebooks are very informative, but they can't capture potential tourists' emotions like the characters in a novel can. If more publishers and novelists started setting stories in real places and including tourism guides, then that could ultimately have a very significant impact on our economy.

Pete Peterson Lodge (Lagoon Park area: a very scenic place for a picnic, especially in the
fall)

OTHER MONTGOMERY TOURISM NOVELS

Featured in USA Today: Dixie Noir,
by noted author Kirk Curnutt. Dixie Noir is the story of a fictional former Crimson Tide
football star who falls hard and fast from fame into disgrace. When he returns
to his hometown of Montgomery,
he finds that making amends is much more challenging—and more dangerous—than anything he ever faced
on the gridiron. Features the tourism attractions of the F. Scott and ZeldaFitzgeraldMuseum and the El Rey
restaurant, along with many others.

Also featured in USA Today:
Blind Fate, by Patrick Brian Miller. Blind Fate is the story of a blind
violinist who must use all her senses to face off against a dangerous fugitive.
Written from her unique “perspective,” readers will experience the story with
no visuals to guide them. Features the tourism attractions of JasmineHillGardens and Museum, the RosaParksMuseum, and many others.

Cloverdale, by Daphne Simpkins.
Cloverdale is about a retired teacher whose quiet life is turned upside down
when two young church missionaries come to stay for a week. Featuring the real
historic neighborhood of Old Cloverdale, the most beautiful in Montgomery.DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LINKS

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Senator Clay Scofield, Chairman of the Alabama Senate Tourism and Marketing Committee, will present the 2012 SELTI Tourism Fiction Award to Kathryn Lang at the Moundville Native American Festival on October 10. Lang was selected for the award after her tourism short story "Digging Up Bones" won the Inaugural SELTI Writing Contest. Read her winning story by clicking Digging Up Bones. The story was set in Moundville and offers photos, links, and a short tourism guide to the archaeological park. Moundville was the perfect place to use as the setting for the contest, which was the first in the nation to challenge writers to compose stories designed to promote tourism to a real location. Many thanks again to the University of Alabama professors who helped judge the contest.

Native Americans will perform
traditional dances and arts at
the Moundville Native American
Festival, where the award
will be presented.

While presenting the award, Sen. Scofield will also invite all writers to use Alabama's many beautiful tourism attractions as settings for stories and novels with tourism guides. He will be the first elected official in the nation to make such an invitation. From scenic mountains to beautiful sunny beaches and resorts, Alabama offers many fun settings for novels just waiting for a story to be set in. A good place for interested writers to begin researching ideas would be the Alabama Tourism Department, which offers excellent guides to the state's many travel destinations.

About Me

I am the founder of SELTI and author of Blind Fate, the first tourism novel in the world with an interactive travel guide inside the book (order here). Blind Fate has live links in the book that take readers instantly to the websites of the real tourism places found in the story--all with one click.
Blind Fate was featured in USA Today here.
Also, please browse the SELTI features for online tourism guides to many Southern books. Email me at literarytourism@aol.com or SELTI Executive Director Kathryn Lang at kathrynlang@kathrynlang.com.
For a more detailed explanation of SELTI, please visit the introduction page at: Southeastern Literary Tourism Initiative.